You'll speed up the drying of those indoor splits considerably if you have a fan running, directed at them.
hearthstone heritage secondary air tubes not working
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I never thought of that. I have a small rack that i bought. it is about one foot wide by two foot high. It came with fireplace tools. It is two feet from the side of the stove so i try and fill it for a days worth of wood thinking it is good to let the wood dry and warm before i use it. I have noticed if i have wood that is slightlty damp it does dry in that rack. I really only use that amount of wood a day unless it is really cold or the wood isnt completely seasoned. I have noticed that my best burning wood is leftover from the previous heating season. I do have a fan, i will try that. Thanks for the tip. This sight is great.
Tenn Dave
Minister of Fire
In climates where you burn 24/7, how long do these baffles generally last? How much do they cost?
The usual reason for having a baffle break is because you get careless and bang a split pretty good up against it. How long they'd last if you never did that ever, I have no idea. My old Tribute was around 10 years old and had been run 24/7 for four or five years before I clocked the baffle with a split and it broke. I now have a larger stove where I'm less likely to bang into the baffle, and I'm also now flat-out paranoid about not doing that.
Baffles aren't all that wildly expensive to replace. I think the one I got for the Tribute was $30. It's not like the cat stoves, where the cat has to be replaced every few years for a couple hundred bucks, I gather.
husky345 vermont resolute
Feeling the Heat
The baffles don't normally wear out, they get hit and damaged. I got nearly 30 cords through my heritage and replaced it for resale since a new baffle looks real nice. At the time, about 3 years ago, it was about 70$.
I agree that it would be much better if these baffles were made of something more durable. A couple of non cat brands use a stainless steel plate with holes for the baffle.
Tenn Dave
Minister of Fire
$30 bucks isn't bad. But it does pay to be careful when loading wood.
My cat is now 2 years old and going strong. I believe the cost is approx. $125, so I hope I do not have to replace it for another couple of years.
Several stove companies use tougher cast ceramic baffles. Lopi and Regency use firebrick on some of their models. To avoid damage, don't load up to the tubes. Keep a couple inches below them. And don't run a brush down to the board baffle. One smack will crack it.
I have a BK and really like cat stoves. My cat warranty is for 10 years BUT the cat manufacturer discloses a 25% drop in efficiency after 10000 - 12000 hours which is less than three years. If you want to collect on the BK cat warranty you need to buy a new OEM cat from a dealer (300$) and then ship your old cat back to BK who will then decide if your old cat was defective and issue a refund if it was. Well, the trick is that a cat that is 25% less efficient is not defective it is just worn per the manufacturer. So what is 25% less efficiency? Does that mean I burn 25% more firewood to get the same heat? Yikes! That amount of wood would pay for a new cat that would not only be more efficient but also light off sooner for lower emissions.
Yes, I believe that the cat would "work" after 5 years but at a diminished capacity that would decrease appliance efficiency and increase fuel costs more than the value of a new cat. I only wish BK would sell cats for 125$ like WS instead of 300$. Not sure what that's all about as the WS cat is much larger. Maybe BKVP can comment on how WS can sell much larger cats from the same manufacturer at nearly 30% of the price.
This thread is getting way off topic. IIRC BKVP indicated a much lower drop in efficiency with the cat per year and has some test charts to show this. I would start a new thread with the question or start a conversation directly.
Hi again, I thought i would give you guys an update on my stove. I was going to attempt a temporary repair to the the baffle but after checking it further i found it was a in a lot worse condition than i thought. The whole section between the middle and rear airtubes was missing. What was there was very rotten and just fell apart when i later replaced it. The inside top of the stove above the baffle looked like the old popcorn ceilings. It was pieces of the baffle that some how got stuck there. It brushed right off. So anyhow I ordered a new baffle which took awhile to get but its in and the stove is working a lot better. I figure i will consider it a normal wear item and plan on replacing it every 4-5 years. The stove does heat up a lot quicker again. Also I resplit the would i had smaller and that helped get the fire going easier. So i want to thank all the guys here for their help and suggestions. This has been a great experience on this site and i will look at it in the future for good reading and knowlege thet people have to share.
Good news. Thanks for letting us know.
This place is awesome. I found it when I was starting to burn, having a lot of trouble and at my wits end. The guys here held my hand and stepped me through and taught me a whole lot over the two burning seasons I needed to get properly dry wood and learn how my stove worked. I will be forever grateful.
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